1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the design of flip-chip packages used in the manufacture of integrated circuits. More specifically, but without limitation thereto, the present invention relates to the design of redistribution layers in an integrated circuit die.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An important issue in microelectronic packaging is reliability. Technologies for microelectronic packaging are developed not only to manufacture microelectronic packages at low cost, but also to ensure that the performance of the microelectronic packages will not deteriorate over their service life. A critical factor in determining the service life of an integrated circuit is the redistribution of current in the redistribution layer of the integrated circuit die. The redistribution layer is a conductive metal layer formed on a surface of the die in which traces are formed that connect various signals and power between the die and I/O pads formed on the surface of the die. The I/O pads connect the signals between the traces and the package substrate through solder bumps. In certain areas of the solder bumps near the junctions of the traces and the I/O pads, the maximum current density may shorten the useful life of the integrated circuit. The peaking of the current density at the junctions of the traces and the I/O pads and in the solder bumps is generally referred to as current crowding. It has been discovered that current crowding results in the deterioration of not only the trace junctions, which decreases the wafer level reliability, but also the solder bumps, which decreases the package level reliability.